The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 136

Once he was dressed, I walked downstairs with Victor. I didn't want to let him out of my sight. I was really worried about him after what had just happened. "Princess. You don't have to watch over me. Go. Enjoy your evening. You have so many more interesting people to spend time with." Victor said. "But I want to spend time with you, Victor." I insisted. "I miss you."

"I have work to focus on. We're getting updates on what the rest of the curse team has. I'm sure Finn will brief all of you in the morning. You should go have fun. It would make me happy to know you're having fun instead of worrying over me." He murmured, taking my hand in his and kissing it gently. "I... I guess. If it will make you happy, Victor." I replied.

He kissed me on top of my head and went into his office. When the door was closed, I sighed. Gray called out that he was heading out to get a couple journals from his great-grandfather. There had been some with spotty bits about the curse which were written later. I didn't know where anyone else was. I wandered to the TV room, hoping someone would be playing. The door was open and I saw Val sitting on the couch playing one of the shooting games. I sat next to him and watched.

Back before all this happened, Val would've been out on a date tonight. Ever since his girlfriend broke up with him, a few months back, Val had gone on a lot of dates. He told me it was hard finding a girl who fit him just right.

Val had to have a destined mate like me and Harmony. There was a girl who was a perfect fit for him somewhere. I wanted to find her. Maybe that would be the next thing we could work on.

"Hey, Echo. Everything okay?" He asked after finishing the mission he was on.

"Everything's fine, Val."

"I saw Talia running to Victor's room followed by Gray. I thought he might have taken a turn. I paced the hallway, hoping to find out what was going on. Talia told me Victor couldn't wake up tonight. He's fine now, right?" Val pressed. "Yes. He's awake and feeling normal. We had a bit of a scare." I admitted.

"You know I'm only interested in making sure you're safe. You and Harmony are my little sisters. I want to always protect you. I wish I had known a way to save you sooner.... I won't let you get hurt this time." He promised.

"Val. Don't be so hard on yourself. You couldn't save me. Victor just happened to have what they wanted. I don't blame you. I blame them. They did something horrible and saw nothing wrong with it. You tried, but they threatened me and you couldn't risk it." I said. "You were in Victor's room for a long time. Talia forced me to leave after I tried to get to the door. I didn't like them leaving you alone in there. You never let on when you're hurt. Lately, I've seen a change in you. You're more vulnerable. It makes me worry." "Oh. I didn't realize I was doing something worrisome. I just felt so safe and I guess I got caught up in it. Now, everything is different. Now, nothing is safe." I sniffled.

Val set the controller down and wrapped his arms around me. I rarely got hugs from my brother and sister before. Now, I was able to hug them whenever, but I lost the ability to hug my mates. "Where's Harmony?" I asked while holding my brother tightly.

"On a date with Cam. They've been having dates every Friday night since we moved to the pack lands. They're practically inseparable. It makes me miss how we used to be. She would talk to me about everything, but, now, she doesn't." Val sighed and let me go. I leaned against him. "She's growing and changing. It's going to be okay, Val. You'll find your mate and you'll understand what it's like."

"Yeah. I guess. I wonder what she is. When the spell is over, I can cast a soulmate spell. Uncle Preston was telling me about it. The spell helps witches find their perfect matches. It's used by single affinity witches. You have two mates, maybe I'll have three." He chuckled.

"I don't think you can handle three." I laughed. "That's a lot of women."

"Maybe. You know I only want you to be happy. I don't want Victor and Gray only thinking of the things they can do to your body. I want them to know you and love every part of you." Val whispered. "I want all of you to be loved."

"They love me. When Victor's not like he has been, Gray and I spend a lot of time with him. He watches movies with me. He doesn't even mind that they're sometimes childish and don't have a lot of fights or explosions. Gray helps me in the garden. He's sweet and playful. The other stuff is just one of the ways we show our love. It's not the only way we do." I assured him.

"Well, I-" Val was cut off by a loud crash that seemed to come from Victor's office.

We jumped off the couch and ran out of the room. There was another crash and some shouting. I was faster than Val and made it to Victor's office first.

"This is my territory! You'll never take it from me! I'll kill you first!" Victor roared.

He was grappling with Talia. The furniture had been tossed around the room. Finn was laying on his side with a chair leg sticking out of his chest.

Val and I grabbed him and pulled him into the hall. The chair leg wasn't going through his heart. I held him down while Val worked to pull the leg from his chest.

While we watched, Finn's skin knitted itself together. He grinned at us. I didn't know why he was smiling. Victor was going insane.

"Thanks. I had to play dead so Talia could draw his attention. We need to get him into the cells. Echo, can you travel there?" Finn asked.

"I haven't been in the cells, but I have been in the basement and I saw the plans for the cells. I think I can get into them." I replied.

"It'll have to be good enough. Fingers crossed. I'm going to run down and lock both cell doors. I want you to get ahold of Vic and take him to the cells using your ability." Finn said.

"She can't do that! She's a small dhampyr and he's a whole ass vampire! You can't send my sister in there!" Val shouted.

"Shh! Keep your damned voice down, boy. Talia can't distract him all night and he's too erratic for me to fight. The curse has him good. That's not Victor in there. That's a mad vampire." Finn replied.

"You want to send my little sister into a room with a mad vampire? Are you f*****g insane? This isn't happening. Call Marius. Echo isn't going." Val insisted.

"I'll go. Val, you can't keep me from doing this. I need to make sure Victor's safe. The sun is only just setting. If he's truly mad, he could go running out into the sun and I'd lose him. I can't lose him, Val. I love him." I said, pushing past him.

I rushed into the room and quickly assessed what was going on and where it was leading. I needed to get Victor away from Talia. She couldn't get caught up in this trap.

"V-Victor. Help me!" I cried.

It worked last time and I had a great deal of hope that it would work this time. I needed Victor to focus on me now. I just had to get ahold of him.

He turned, looking enraged. I gasped and took a step back. Val came up beside me and tried to pull me from the room.

Victor snarled and threw Talia off of him. He was running straight at my brother. I was trying to push Val off of me.

Val turned to Victor and shouted, "Stop!!"

Almost immediately, Victor stopped his charge. It was like he couldn't move. I looked over at Valor.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"His vampiric ability." Talia chuckled. "He must have the ability to order other vampires to do his bidding. There's no way that would have worked on Victor if he was in his right mind. The curse is weakening him along with making him crazy. This is an impressive ability, Val. Great job!" "I'll kill you! Let go of my Solus Amor!" Victor yelled.

I brushed Val's hands off me and walked over to where Victor was standing. He snarled and growled. I folded my hands together over my chest.

"Echo. Don't." Val warned.

"He won't hurt me. I need to do something before your ability wears off. Trust me." I told him.

When I reached Victor, I was holding back tears. He wasn't in there anymore. Not even a little bit.

"Mine. My Solus Amor. Only mine!" Victor was muttering over and over.

"I'm here, my Victor. No one will take me from you. You need to calm down so I can hold you. Will you calm down for me?" I asked quietly.

"You. Are. MINE." He growled.

"I know. Everyone here knows. I am only yours. Calm, my love. Calm." I repeated.

He seemed to calm down and I put my hands on his shoulders before pressing my body into him. I needed to get him moved before he broke free from Val's hold on him. I worked on picturing the basement and how it might look with the cells.

I remembered the schematics of where the cells would go in relation to everything in the basement. I hated the idea of putting him in there. Victor hated the basement as much as I did.

Closing my eyes, I held on to Victor and imagined being in the cells. When I opened my eyes, I was in a dark room. There was no light to show me any part of the cell. Just pure black.

"No one can take you now. You're mine. They can't steal you if they can't find you." Victor's voice hissed in my ear.

His arms snaked around me and he started kissing and nibbling down my neck. A sob escaped me. He didn't even sound like himself.

He pulled back. "Why are you crying? Is something hurting you again?"

"I love you, Victor. You know that, right?" I asked.

"Of course you love me. You are mine. You must love only me." Victor answered with a small scoff.

"Right. I can't see, Victor. Is there some place I can sit down?"

Victor took my arm and guided me across the room. He stopped, spun me around, and settled me on a cot. I was grateful there would be some place for him to sleep. "Can you figure out how we'll find food? We can't just feed on each other." I said.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because, I need real food. I'm still alive, remember?"

"I can turn you, Amor. You can be mine for eternity." Victor said.

His hands came down on my shoulders and he held me still. I could feel his breath on my neck.

"No. Not yet, Victor. We were going to have babies. Remember? I can't have babies if I'm a vampire." I pled.

"You're having my babies. I can't turn you and hurt the babies. I'll find food for you and the babies." He said with a happy voice.

He must have misunderstood and thought I was pregnant. That was going to make this even harder. Now, he'd think someone stole me and our babies.

I closed my eyes tight and focused on Victor's office again. I didn't want to be too close to the cells. I didn't want to hear him when he discovered I was gone. Opening my eyes again, I squinted against the harshness of the overhead light. I expected to be alone, but Talia was there. She came over and hugged me tight. "Everything will be alright, Echo. I promise. You did so good." She crooned.

"He thought I was pregnant. He's going to think someone stole his pregnant mate." I sobbed.

"I understand. You did what you had to do, Echo. He'll forgive you once we cure him. Victor is in the safest place possible. Trust me, Echo. We're doing everything we can to save him." Talia promised.

"I know. I just wish I didn't have to hurt him. What happened?" I asked.

Talia let me go and started trying to straighten out the office. I would need to buy some new pieces for it. I was growing impatient.

"Sorry. I just wanted to make the room feel a little more normal. You have no idea how badly this is affecting me, Echo. Victor is my childe. When I turned him, I did something terrible. He didn't want to live. I worked over the first thirty years of his second life to give him things to live for. When he came back to himself, Victor tried to find ways to die. He didn't want this life." Talia explained. "You have no idea how hard I fought to get him to want to live. I have been fighting for his life since the beginning. When he told me you might be his Solus Amor, I was thrilled. Victor enjoyed power, but he needed love."

"You were sure he would fight harder to live if he had me." I murmured.

"Of course. And I was right. Victor has been fighting to live ever since he heard about the curse and what it does. He has taken every setback in stride and every hint of progress with a grain of salt. My realistic boy. Ever levelheaded." She chuckled. "What happened, Talia?" I asked again.

"I told him about the part of the curse we broke. Finn said he feels something coming close that will get us answers. I was just telling them about Hollis' involvement, when Victor started acting strangely. He started shaking his head and growling. When I mentioned Hollis' territory, Victor started yelling about his territory and how we weren't going to steal it from him. I was so shocked, I didn't register him moving and he attacked Finn. It was as if he felt no pain. He fought me off, broke a leg off from one of the armchairs, and tried to stake Finn." Talia told me.

"Finn went to lock the cells after Val and I pulled the chair leg out. He should be back soon." I said.

As if he were called by that comment, Finn walked into the room. Val was with him. Neither one looked particularly happy. Val rushed to me and pulled me into a hug.

"Thank god, you're okay. I went down to the basement and heard him raging. I was worried you were in there, but Finn said he was sure you weren't. Don't ever do anything like that again." He murmured, holding me tightly and stroking my hair.

"Valor. You have to stop treating me like a child." I said, pushing him away. "I am the Mistress of this territory. I haven't been a child for a long time. Talia, what are our next steps? Finn, where are we on the curse? Did you figure out who it was that we needed from the nursing home?"

I went around Victor's desk and righted his chair before sitting in it. Val stared at me in shock, but Talia and Finn arranged the remaining chairs around the desk and got to business. I was the leader of this territory when Victor wasn't available. I wouldn't let anyone down. I wouldn't let Victor down.